Dear Marya Alexandrovna! We have arrived in Shushenskoye, and I am fulfilling my promise — to write you how Vladimir looks. In my opinion, he has gotten terribly healthy, and his appearance is splendid compared to what it was in Petersburg. One local inhabitant here, a Polish woman*, says: "Mr. Ulyanov is always cheerful."

He is terribly keen on hunting, and everyone here in general is an enthusiastic hunter, so that soon, I suppose, I too will be scanning for all sorts of ducks, teals and so-called beasts.

The journey to Shusha is not at all tiring, especially if there is no need to stay in Krasnoyarsk, and besides, they promise that from June there will be a steamboat all the way to Shusha. Then it will be quite fine. So if you manage to make it out here, the journey will be quite bearable. And in Shusha it is very good, in my view — there is forest, the river is nearby. I am writing only a little, as this is merely a postscript to Vladimir's letter**. He has written, probably, a much more detailed letter. I called in at Minusinsk to inquire about books; your letter and a notice had already been received there, but it turned out that they could not be delivered to the addressee from Krasnoyarsk. That same evening we settled the matter, wrote a power of attorney to Krasnoyarsk, and now the books will be received in a few days. Thank you very much. And with our countless baggage everything went perfectly smoothly, we did not lose anything, and we were admitted to the cars everywhere. Thank you also for the provisions, we lived on them for about three days, and it was much more pleasant than the station

* This refers to the wife of I. L. Prominskiy. — Editor

** See the present volume, pp. 88-89. — Editor